The Islamic State (IS, banned in Russia) and other terrorist groups are trying to infiltrate the CIS, Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed out on Wednesday at a meeting with the heads of delegations at the 51st meeting of the heads of security agencies and intelligence services of the CIS countries.
"Speaking of threats in the Commonwealth, I would like to note that the level of danger posed by ISIS, al-Qaeda (banned in Russia) and other terrorist groups is not decreasing. They are trying to infiltrate into the CIS countries, form clandestine cells, and the concentration of militant groups in Afghanistan, especially near the borders with the republics of Central Asia, of course, bears the potential risk of intervention into the region," the Russian leader outlined the situation.
According to Putin, it is obvious that neither the Commonwealth as a whole, nor its countries separately, have yet faced such complex threats. "And our common task is to protect our people from them as much as possible, to strengthen stability and peace in the space of the CIS, to continue the development of the mutually beneficial integration processes that in recent decades have become an example of truly partnership relations," he stressed.
According to the president of the Russian Federation, today it is important to mobilize all forces and means for solving these tasks. "And, of course, to fully use accumulated experience and contacts, which, as we have repeatedly seen, significantly increase the potential and efficiency of each service," he concluded.
Activity of foreign intelligence services
Putin called for more active disclosure and suppression of activities of foreign intelligence services in the CIS in order to combat interference in the internal affairs of countries. "One of the priority tasks is to jointly counteract attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of the Commonwealth. We know with you what this is. To do this - to counter it - it is necessary to more actively disclose and suppress the work of foreign intelligence services aimed at destabilizing the situation in each CIS member state," he pointed out.
According to Putin, it is important to continue a coordinated, systematic fight against terrorism. "There has been a positive trend in this area recently. For example, the number of terrorist crimes, including terrorist attacks, has decreased in almost all countries of the Commonwealth," he noted.
Putin believes it is necessary to stop the sprawl of foreign mercenaries with combat experience. "It is necessary to further develop cooperation in the sphere of counterterrorism, in particular, to continue exchanging information about those involved in or suspected of terrorist or extremist activities, to focus efforts on identifying and blocking channels of terrorist infiltration under the cover of migration flows, including the spread of foreign mercenaries with combat experience, which poses a serious threat," the head of state said.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS